Last year, LG launched the world's first dual-core smartphone, the powerful Optimus 2X. Now, the brand has set a new benchmark with its successor, the awesome quad-core Optimus 4X HD.

The phone uses Nvidia's brand-new, lightning-fast 1.5GHz Tegra 3 processor, which offers up to five times the performance of the Tegra 2 chip used in the Optimus 2X. Backed up by 1GB of RAM, its four cores split processor-intensive tasks between them, delivering ultra-smooth graphics and seamless multitasking.

Of course, not every task requires such extreme processing power, so for maximum efficiency the Optimus 4X HD features a smaller fifth 'companion' core, which takes care of low-intensity jobs such as messaging, making calls and navigating the phone's menus. As soon as you ask the phone to do something more demanding, the quad cores automatically kick in.

Combined with a high-capacity 2150mAh battery, this four-plus-one architecture gives you the best of both worlds: ultimate performance as well as efficient energy consumption, allowing the phone to go longer between charges.

Yet the Optimus 4X HD's processors are just part of the story – it also features a stunning 4.7in, 1280x720-pixel HD-quality display. With a pixel density of 313ppi, graphics and text are rendered incredibly sharp, while LG's exclusive IPS technology ensures colours are as accurate and natural as possible – a factor that comes in useful when viewing images captured with the 8MP, Full HD camera.

As befits such a high-end smartphone, the Optimus 4X HD runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, bringing with it all of Google's latest innovations and productivity tools, plus access to more than 300,000 apps through the Android Market and LG's own Smartworld store.

The Optimus 4X HD also offers NFC in addition to all the usual connectivity options, and comes with 16GB of internal storage, which can be expanded using microSD cards of up to 64GB. Overall, LG's new flagship smartphone is a true technical tour de force and an impressive successor to the Optimus 2X.